PEUGEOT

Peugeot was formed in France in  1810 and originally made tools and kitchen items. The first Peugeot car was produced 1889. After that they began producing more cars and played an important role in early motorsport. By the early 1900s, Peugeot was producing several cars including 2, 4 and 6 cylinder vehicles.

In the 1980s, and along came the production of the 205. From then on, the Peugeot have made a range of popular cars from the 306 to the 206 as well as the 405 and many more since. The brand also bought Citroen in the 70s, so the parent company that makes both brands is known as Stellantis, the world fifth largest car manufacturer.

These days Peugeot still make lots of popular cars mainly sold in Europe but also in Australia and around the world but are they reliable? They have certainly been known to have a few electrical issues in the past. But French cars were at one point, viewed as being a little strange in the world market. Brands like Citroen were always pushing the design boundaries and Australian buyers weren’t always keen on the results. Peugeot’s do have their common faults but they are generally very reliable cars.

For those who don’t want to go with the crowd, this French car is much loved by those who own one.

CITROEN

Although Citroen is a big deal in France, it’s a very niche brand in Australia with less than 150 cars sold in 2022. Despite this, Citroen are well loved by their devoted owners.

Citroen is one of the most well known car brands across Europe, and a common sight on British roads. The brand established itself as an innovator in the 1930s, with the Traction Avant, the world’s first mass-produced front wheel drive car. Since then, have achieved success with a range of vehicles, from city cars to larger family vehicles.

Citroen is currently part of Stellantis (formerly PSA Group), a multinational manufacturer that produces and sells Peugeot, Citroen, DS, Opel and Vauxhall cars.

One of the things that Citroen have been particularly known for, is reliability.

In a most recent survey in the UK, Citroen came 13th for the second year in a row, with 115 problems per 100 vehicles. In the 2017 Auto Express survey of the most reliable cars to buy, the Citroen C4 Picasso, the Citroen C1 and the Citroen C4 Cactus all appeared in the table.

For Citroen owners, we advise they have their car serviced at a recognised specialist in French vehicle such as Peugeotech. The rarity of the brand in Australia, means some mechanics have never seen under the bonnet of a Citroen. In reality modern Citroens are very similar to Peugeots.

RENAULT

Despite being way behind Japanese and Korean brands, the Renault is appearing more on Australian roads than ever before. The best selling of the French brands, Renault sales doubled to 3151 sales in 2022.

Largely driven by the sales of its popular Korea-built Koleos, which shares its platform with the Nissan X-Trail but has improved body design and a more comfortable ride. The Renault vans also sell well to the commercial sector, the Renault Trafic comes in a close 4^th in van sales behind Hyundai i load and Ford Transit.

So are Renaults reliable? Depending on the model, Renaults are pretty reliable one of the reasons they are reliable is that unlike some European branded cars, they don’t cost too much to repair when they do go wrong. Also, if you have a good mechanic like Peugeotech they aren’t off the road for very long when they are being repaired.

Renault cars are designed to be affordable, which means that they don’t have a huge amount of new technology in them. That is not a bad thing, it means that there is less to go wrong.

So that could be a reason why Renault are more reliable than other car brands.